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TMI Blog1988 (9) TMI 270X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 56, or in the alternative, for staying the proceedings of the said criminal case till the dispute raised by him under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and which has been referred by the State to the First Labour Court is decided. The facts giving rise to the present petition, briefly stated, are that the petitioner-accused was appointed and was working as an Industrial Relations Executive with Glaxo Laboratories (India) Ltd. (now Glindia Ltd.), a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913. The petitioner joined the services of the said company in 1977. As the petitioner had no accommodation, the company, on July 2, 1977, allotted temporary accommodation to him at the company's transit camp. That flat had to be vacated and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... reafter to the Sessions Court, Bombay. That application was dismissed. On June 6, 1983, the recording of evidence of respondent No. 1-complainant commenced. On June 14, 1983, the petitioner filed Criminal Application No. 616 of 1983 in this court challenging the initiation of the complaint by respondent No. 1. That application was dismissed by this court on July 13, 1983. The evidence of respondent No. 1, which had commenced on June 6, 1983, was completed on conclusion of the cross-examination on October 5, 1984, and, thereafter, on February 12, 1985, the examination of P.W. 2, R.P. Bharucha, the Vice-President, Personnel, Administration and Legal Division of the company, commenced. The examination-in-chief was completed on the same day and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... red this petition. Learned counsel, Mr. R.S. Bhonsale, appearing for the petitioner-accused, submitted before me that though the petitioner was employed as an industrial relations executive with the company, he was doing duties of a clerical nature and as such he was a "workman" within the definition of that term as appearing in section 2( s ) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Learned counsel contends that whether the petitioner is a workman and whether the termination of his services by the company is bad and illegal for non-compliance of the provisions of section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act can be decided only by the courts constituted under the said Act and in case he is held to be a workman and it is also further held that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the definition of the term appearing in section 2( s ) of the Industrial Disputes Act and as such he could not raise any dispute under the said Act. He submits that the hearing of the criminal case and the examination of the complainant commenced on June 6, 1983, and one of the witnesses has been examined and cross-examined and the second witness is in the witness-box since February 12, 1985, and he is being cross-examined since then. According to him, the witness attended the trial court as many as 75 times and he has to attend it till his cross-examination is complete. According to learned counsel, though the dispute on the application of the petitioner was referred to the Labour Court in the year 1985, the petitioner did not move the tri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be very reluctant to stay the hearing of criminal cases which have already begun. The fact that there is a dispute between the petitioner and the company as to whether the petitioner is a workman and whether his services have been properly terminated as required by section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, does not in any way affect the continuation of the trial and the decision of the criminal case. Section 630 of the Companies Act reads thus : "630(1). If any officer or employee of a company ( a )wrongfully obtains possession of any property of a company ; or ( b )having any such property in his possession, wrongfully withholds it or knowingly applies it to purposes other than those expressed or directed in the articles and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng, but I propose not to deal with those cases, lest my observations may, in any way, prejudice the defence or the case of the complainant, and counsel for both the parties also say that it is not necessary to discuss all those cases. Every case has to be decided on its facts, and under certain circumstances, to avoid failure of justice, it becomes necessary to stay the criminal proceedings pending the civil proceedings, but that is not the case in the present matter. In the result, there is no substance in the petition and it is hereby dismissed. The rule is discharged. The interim stay is vacated. The writ shall be immediately sent to the trial court. The parties are directed to appear in the trial court on September 21, 1988, and the l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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